The Scar
by cherylwoo
Summary: Arthur remembers how Yao got the scar on his back. Hints of England/China. With some highly inaccurate(?) history. Rated for suggestions of rape and blood.


A/N - Hello! This is my first attempt at historical fic. It depicts the Nanjing Massacre. I think it is very inaccurate (sorry!) and not very good, but nevertheless, I hope you enjoy it.

As sunlight streamed in through the window, Arthur opened a bleary eye. What time was it? He reached towards the bedside table to fumble for the clock. It was still early. Well, in his standards, it was still early. Especially considering it was Saturday, and he didn't have to go to work.

Arthur stole a glance at his bed mate, who was still sleeping. Yao was lying on his stomach. The sunlight fell on his prone body, illuminating his skin and giving him a very healthy glow. Yao was not wearing a shirt, and that gave Arthur an opportunity to gaze upon the scar on his back. Yao was a very private person – it was rare that he exposed his body like that. So Arthur revelled in the fact that he was the only one that Yao removed the shields he had set up for.

Subconsciously, Arthur ran a finger lightly over Yao's scar tissue. Yao shivered and shifted slightly. Arthur smiled affectionately. It was a known fact that Yao was a light sleeper, so it was not surprising that he could feel Arthur's touch.

Arthur's mind drifted back to 1937, when Yao had received that wound from Kiku.

* * *

_Arthur wrinkled his nose as the stench of smoke and dead bodies wafted through his nostrils. The streets of Nanjing was littered with dead bodies – those of soldiers and those of civilians._

_Arthur had heard about Japan's attack on the city of Nanjing, but he hadn't expected it to be this severe. The news came to him in India about a week ago, when Japan had begun its assault on China. Arthur had been otherwise occupied, but decided to drop by China at the first chance he got. So he set sail from India to China. Despite the fact that Britain and China had once been enemies on opposite ends of the Opium Wars, Arthur still saw China as one of his biggest allies during that era. To see China in that state… it was heart-breaking._

_A few British soldiers who had accompanied Arthur were scouting the ground for possible survivors. The few surviving victims, who were barely alive, were immediately taken away for medical treatment to perhaps save them._

_Arthur glanced towards a run-down hut. Somehow, he felt drawn towards the cabin. Quietly, he made his way there._

"_England?" one of his soldiers called out for Arthur. Very few people knew Arthur's human name, and so referred to him by his country name._

"_It's okay, Johnson," Arthur told the soldier. "I'm just going to check out that hut over there. Go back to what you were doing."_

"_Yes, sir!"_

_Arthur reached the hut, and pushed open the door as silently as he could. Although run-down, it seem as though this hut was somehow spared from the atrocities of war going on outside – it was considerably clean, and didn't stink of war and dead bodies._

_Arthur dismissed the condition of the hut. Even though he didn't really expect to find anything there, it couldn't hurt to investigate the cabin further._

_Arthur walked deeper into the hut. To his shock, he found a trail of dried blood on the ground. So this place did not escape from the war after all._

_Arthur followed the trail of blood. It led into a small room at the corner of the hut. When Arthur swung the door open, he gasped at what he saw. Immediately, he brought his hand to cover his mouth._

_The nation where this was all happening, Yao, was lying face-down in a pool of his own blood, unconscious. The blood seemed to have come from a huge gash in his back, which looked to have been made with a sword. The wound looked like it had been there for a while – blood was beginning to coagulate on the wound. Yao was naked, and Arthur dreaded to think what had happened to cause Yao to be in that state. Torn pieces of cloth that Arthur assumed was what used to be Yao's clothes were strewn about the room. If Yao wasn't a nation, Arthur would have thought him already dead. But Arthur knew that nations don't die so easily, so Yao was probably still alive._

_Quickly, Arthur rushed out of the hut in search of some blankets he could use to cover Yao's body._

"_Smith!" Arthur called to the medic of their group. "Smith!"_

_The man in question looked towards Arthur._

"_Do you have any blankets on you?"_

_The man called Smith nodded. He dug into his bag and handed Arthur two blankets._

"_Thanks," Arthur thanked his medic before hurriedly making his way back into the shack. He headed for the room Yao was in and began work on transporting Yao out of that hellhole and into a hospital._

_Arthur wrapped the two blankets around Yao's body, layer after layer. He then cradled Yao's body in his arms and carried the unconscious man out of the hut._

_When Arthur walked out of the cabin, he was greeted by one of his soldiers, a man by the name of Pettigrew. "England, sir!" Pettigrew saluted him. "The survivors have been taken to our medical facilities. There were only about six of them, sir," he reported._

"_Good," said Arthur. "I need one more means of transport to take him to the medical facility," he nodded towards the huge bundle in his arms._

_The soldier peered into Arthur's arms. "Isn't that… China…?"_

_Arthur nodded grimly. "I don't know what has happened, but he needs medical treatment soon."_

"_Yes, sir!" Pettigrew saluted again. "I'll arrange for transport to the medical facility!"_

* * *

_Yao was eventually admitted to stay in the British medical facility for a while. Arthur learned that Yao had been left there for a day, no doubt by Japanese soldiers who didn't know about Yao's identity. They probably saw how much he was bleeding and left him to die._

_But Arthur soon learnt the truth as to what had happened. For Yao regained consciousness later in the night._

"_Arthur?" mumbled Yao when his eyes had finally adjusted to the hospital lights. "Why are you here? How did I get here, aru?" He tried to sit up, but Arthur placed a hand on his, telling him not to move._

"_I found you," Arthur told Yao._

"_Oh," said Yao in a small voice. "Thanks."_

_Arthur placed a comforting hand on Yao's shoulder. "What happened?"_

_Yao smiled bitterly. "My little brother betrayed me, aru," he said simply. "He wanted to control my people, he wanted my resources, and so he attacked Nanjing. It's as simple as that."_

"_Well, that much I gathered from the news. But I'm asking – what happened to you? Why did I find you naked in a pool of your own blood?" asked Arthur worriedly._

_Yao turned red. Whether it was from humiliation or anger, Arthur wasn't entirely sure. Perhaps it was a combination of both. "I wanted to end this war peacefully. So I attempted to talk to Kiku, aru. But when my back was turned, he slashed me with his sword," Yao explained._

_Arthur looked at Yao in sympathy. He remained silent and waited for Yao to continue._

_After a long pause, Yao continued. "Well, needless to say, I collapsed to the ground. I was lying there in a daze – I couldn't believe the younger brother I had raised would do that to me," he explained with an ironic expression on his face. "As soon as Kiku left, some Japanese soldiers entered, aru. At first, they thought I was a woman, but upon them groping me, they realised that I was a man. I tried to push them away, I really tried…" Yao's face crumpled, and he broke down, sobbing._

_Yao didn't need to continue. It was obvious what happened next. Arthur was no stranger to war rape, but to hear it first-hand from a victim of it… it was devastating. Tragic. And to think that even the mighty nation of China could be brought to his knees like that. Arthur shuddered at that thought._

_Yao brought his hands up and buried his face into them. "I should have fought back harder, aru!" he sobbed. "I should have fought back…"_

_Seeing Yao lie there, so broken and alone, made Arthur's heart wrench in sorrow. Arthur reached forward and engulfed Yao in a hug. "No…" he murmured into Yao's ear. "You did your best. I know these sort of soldiers – if you had struggled more, they'd have tortured you more. You're not to blame for any of this."_

_Yao buried his face into Arthur's shoulder and let out a distressed cry. But the sound of his cry was muffled by Arthur's shoulder, so it came out softer than either of them expected it to._

_Wordlessly, Arthur held Yao, stroking his back softly._

* * *

"_Where are we going?" asked a young boy as he tugged on Arthur's hand._

"_We're going to China," replied Arthur._

"_I thought you said that I was not to see big brother Yao anymore."_

"_Well," Arthur shifted uncomfortably. "Circumstances change. And I'm sure it would make Yao very happy to see you." Arthur had just picked the boy up from the island of Hong Kong. They were now heading to Nanjing, where Yao was still hospitalised in the British medical facility._

"_I'd like to see big brother Yao again," Hong Kong smiled up brightly at Arthur._

_Arthur didn't say anything to that._

_When they reached the medical facility, Arthur led Hong Kong to the room where Yao was staying. He knocked twice on the door before opening it. "Yao?"_

_Yao was awake, and was staring blankly at the ceiling. He looked tired. His eyes were still red and puffy, probably from spending the night crying. There were streaks of tears on his face, presumably from the dried tears that Yao had not bothered to wipe away. "Yes?" His voice even sounded choked, as if he were biting back tears._

_Arthur coughed softly. "I brought someone here to see you," he told Yao. Then, he pushed Hong Kong gently into the room._

_Yao's face lit up in joy at seeing the small British colony that once belonged to China. "Hong!" he cried as he sat up. However, that movement proved too much for the wound on his back to bear; Yao immediately fell back onto the bed with a wince._

_If Hong Kong was shocked at the state Yao was in, he didn't show it. Instead, he excitedly ran towards Yao and embraced his brother figure. "I missed you so much, big brother!"_

_Tears actually escaped from Yao's eyes this time. But Arthur could tell that these were not tears of despair, but tears of happiness. Happiness at seeing Hong Kong once again. No doubt, after Kiku's betrayal, Yao found comfort in Hong Kong, his only family member left that hadn't been taken away by Kiku._

_Arthur smiled at the reunion. He decided to give them some privacy, so he quietly exited the room and closed the door behind him._

* * *

"What are you thinking about, aru?"

"Hm?" Distracted from his memories, Arthur turned to look at the owner of that voice, who had woken up and had his head propped up in his hand. He was looking at Arthur sleepily.

"That's your thinking face," observed Yao. "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing," replied Arthur innocently. "Just reminiscing."

"What about, aru?" Yao looked interested.

"Nothing," lied Arthur. He didn't want to remind Yao about that dark period in his life. Nevertheless, he was glad that Yao got through it. "Just thinking about how we got together."

"Are you regretting it?"

"No!" Arthur quickly replied. "Of course not! It's a happy memory for me to fall back on!"

"That's good to know, aru." Yao reached forward and took Arthur's hand. He entwined their fingers together.

"I love you," said Arthur as he kissed Yao on the lips.

"I love you too," Yao replied with a loving smile at Arthur.


End file.
